Our Agreement is Absolute
by furysflame666
Summary: Take me. I pleaded, releasing myself to his mercy. My head dropped in submission. Lestat de Lioncourt
1. Chapter 1

We thought there was nothing wrong with it. I mean, it was pretty simple: just walking home after an open dojo night. All of us were tired since we had been practicing for an extra two hours. Of course, it didn't stop our screwing around and making plenty of noise on the way back to disturb any quiet, suburban family dinner. But we didn't care overly much; we had performed too well (as our master and I had both agreed), and had decided creating a ruckus was to be overlooked.

It _was_ supposed to be simple. A shame it didn't turn out that way.

You see, by the time the seminar had ended, as I said, later than usual, it was already dark. But what happened was, usually, the sky was light enough for all of us to go our separate paths home with no apprehension. From the look of it then, the older members that didn't take their cars decided a group was the safest route. Although I was an instructor, the leader of all of them save our master, I was still only seventeen, they said. And though I thought I was a big, tough guy, I should still go with them on the way home. I would have refused out of sheer pride, but I had Antonio to consider.

Antonio was two years younger than I was and semi-innocent in his choice of sports. He was a decent fighter, real quick, but often, as many younger belts do, he decided he could skip all the way to instructor sparring level. Still, he was a good kid, if not a bit brazen, and I tended to look after him. People saw us as brothers, though I had none to relate. In a way, I looked after him a lot more than anyone else cared, and it wasn't a problem at all. The kid got into scores of crap in his zealousness that no one else would bail him out.

And so, he accompanied us home, as he usually did with me, because I would not allow him otherwise. As I had said, the guys were fooling around and Antonio was not at all halted by his younger age. We were loud; we were rowdy. We were well on our way back when I felt something was wrong.

At first, of course, I ignored it, thinking it to be no more than a wayward sensation. However, as the feeling did not desist, and as we began to pass the corner that always was plagued with a broken bulb in the lamp post, I knew something was going to happen. Normally, I would have led, feeling no fear even in pitch. From this crippling feeling, though, I was reduced and somewhat shamed by my comrades around me. I knew something was wrong, no matter how much fun they were making out of me. With a close to irritated hand, I attempted to dismiss both their jives and my worry. And in the next instant, all was washed from me as if a storm had circuited within my conscious.

A man, one I didn't think was there before, had centered himself on the street. I couldn't begin to see his features, for the scarce light almost made me miss his presence entirely. The man's face was to the ground, and he moved not an inch as we neared on the neighboring sidewalk. My companions didn't seem to notice he was there. Was I imagining everything? No, I still had to get Antonio home; no time for distractions.

"Justin, you alright?" the youngest of us spoke, realizing my fixation on the road. His head turned to where I was looking and, finally, viewed what had nearly stopped me cold. Antonio realized the irregularity of this occurrence, making the others stop as well.

"There's nothing weird about a person in the street," Jordan, the oldest of our group at 22, assured, "Quit staring."

He's not moving. He's just…standing there." I could hardly understand the uneasiness in my voice. This was not right.

"So? What's the matter?" Another of us asked.

I shook my head, as if clearing the doubt from me. The guys started walking again, but when I willed myself forward, I was stuck in place. A few annoyed remarked came from them, but they didn't even get me to twitch. What was happening?

Jordan's muscles tensed as he waited for me to start. Stocky and small, he was much more brawn than any of us there. His tanned skin crinkled in impatience. He was always sort of testy with me; challenging me to matches he couldn't win no matter how much strength he had. The man wanted my instructor position more fiercely than any in the dojo, it was no secret. Now he was pushing the matter further. "This is why he shouldn't be assistant master. He's piss scared of everything that walks."

"I'm not an 'assistant master.' I have full rank and a full ability to discipline you for that. What you said isn't true, you should know it." I finally protested, fatigued of his insults.

He almost scoffed at me as he continued, "If you're so worried about it, why don't you go _ask_ why he's doing that?"

"It's rude. Why would it be any of our business?"

"_Your_ business. We didn't have anything to do with it." Another of the group reprimanded. Had he not been older than me, and outside the dojo at the time, I would have taken out a mounting irritation on him.

A nervous glance over my shoulder at the immovable man gave me a great shock. He wasn't there any longer. It should have been normal; he could have just walked away. But something wasn't right. Something was going to happen. I fought with myself to warn the others, balancing my dwindling authority with the urgency of the message. At last, I won out to tell them; however, before I could speak but a word, I saw something had _attached _itself to Jordan.

The other males in the group all jumped as Jordan let out a cry of pain. Only a moment separated me from the man, and as all the others were then frozen in surprise, I leaped at the thing hooked to my elder in a desperate attempt to free him. My hands wrapped around the face of the person, though I could not weaken his hold. Realizing this, I slipped to the back of him and squirmed my arms around his neck. A single chocking motion to the throat was enough for him to give up. Sick freak was biting Jordan! He made a sound of anguish and stepped back, giving me a view of my comrade's neck. It was red with blood, the prize of the entire struggle. The man only spilled it from my intervention. I could not care for his pain at the time, for the person turned upon me, tackling the both of us to the street in anger.

Fate shined on me, for my martial arts, my expertise, was based almost solely on the ground. Practiced ease took over my actions, as I brought my legs up and slammed them into his midsection. A grunt and a single moment of pause from the man gave me enough time to get out from under him and twist both his wrist and arm back to his shoulder blade. I straddled and held him fast, preventing most of his movement from a tug to the trapped arm.

Meanwhile, Jordan had taken it upon himself to crumple to the ground in deafened terror and weakness. His long hair, normally bound with a strip of red-dyed leather, lay strewn across the dark street. He twitched slightly but was otherwise still.

The guys, for the most part, either had fled or ran to Jordan's side, trying to heft him up again. Only Antonio wished to help me, but by the time he could reach us two, my maneuver had the stranger already incapacitated. The youngest of us stood to my side, unsure what he could do in the situation. His voice was his only tool.

"What the hell did you think you were doing?! he yelled, in honest distress for our fallen classmate.

Another tug on his arm did not prompt him to speak, no matter how powerful I made it. I found it strange that he did not fight my grip in the least. The feeling that had disappeared during the conflict was beginning to return: a sinister sensation that chilled me even as I held him. By the time I could snap out of my thoughts, I saw that the man had turned his face to view Antonio. His features were known to me then, and he was no simple thug.

The blonde hair that had flown across his face in our struggle seemed to be reflecting every bit of light that touched it. His skin was almost matching the locks' shimmer, for it was too white for belief. The skin eyes that somehow, then, held an amused inflection, could have been a plethora of colors, changing as subtly as the rest of his being. The expression on his face must have unnerved my young friend, because his angry tone of just a few moments ago was gone, and I think I heard him gasp in uneasiness.

I'm not sure if everything paused for a moment or he moved too quickly for me to see, for the next conscious thing I felt was the person tossing my weight off him as if I was nothing. He was going for Antonio, this I knew even without being able to see his motions. I had no way of aiding my companion; I could only let out a frustrated yell in my failure to holding the attacker.

But he was spared by another of our classmates, one who was older than I was by two years. The kid was tall and thickly built, shielding Antonio with his body as the stranger lunged toward them. The assailant met a wall of muscle (I knew from sparring him countless times), though, somehow, he was able to push them both backward to the point where the youngest of us was knocked onto his haunches in the exchange. He scrambled backward Jacob, the nineteen year-old started a power war with the man. Jordan was already trying to flee with the others.

"Antonio! Get out of here!" I yelled for our youngest to do the same.

With my plea came the compete defeat of Jacob as the man jumped to him and sliced down on the kid's neck with his teeth. By the time I could rise, my comrade was slumped against the attacker, rendering all of his strength useless in a fit of draining energy. I could not know at the time, but when the stranger tossed him aside, he was completely robbed of his lifeblood.

For the moment, I didn't know and didn't care. I leaped towards Antonio, grasping him about the shoulders. I had to save him, get him away. I ordered, "Get to your house: run! Keep going and don't stop until you're there! I'll keep him here as long as I can!"

"I can't leave you here to die!" he protested in a panic, "Not to him!"

"You know who he _is?_" I practically screamed, but knew there wasn't any time left. I shoved him backward powerfully, "_Go!_"

His eyes held fear. It was clear as it could have been. With great conflict within him, he turned and sprinted, following the trail left by his comrades gone long before him. The flight was the last thing I was able to see as the stranger came upon me. He locked himself around me, his arms restraining mine. It couldn't last long, though, for I broke the expertly, went to the back of him, and took his arms just as he had bound mine: without the flaw in form. A simple move that I had practiced with my master more times than I could count, I had worked it into near perfection. The hold successfully pinned his arm behind his body, the man then involuntarily issuing a grunt. But somehow, he laughed through my whole struggle, as if the situation was a ruse.

"Mon amour, why do you fight when you cannot win? Can you not accept my will?" His voice was sinister, yet melodic. How he ever mixed the two was beyond my understanding.

" 'Accept?' You left my friend half dead on the sidewalk!" My protective nature flared as I thought of Jacob collapsed on the ground. And Jordan as well! The bastard was destroying them all!

"And I'll take the rest; there's no amount of power within you that can stop me." It was as if he had read my mind. This was more than enough to make me yank his arm back more painfully than it was. Another moment and the limb would be dislodged. But he continued, not feeling the sensation at all, "The little beauty will be especially pleasing. Antonio, was it? He'll scream wonderfully."

The sickening crack of his arm sounded through my ears. I had lost control in my outburst of anger. I couldn't give a damn about his now.

"You asshole!" I hissed, my grip only tightening. My mouth was right next to his ear when I promised, "You're in no position to do anything. Say something else like that and I'll break your other arm and work my way up."

Surprisingly, he emitted not a whimper of agony when I had hurt him. And now my threat only caused his laughter. What the hell was wrong with this man!

"Will you now? And who are you-" The stranger paused, making an unbelievably fast movement that broke my grasp. He grabbed my front, "to think that you have subdued me?"

In an instant, I was slammed into the street post closest to us with insurmountable strength. My head slapped up against the unrelenting metal, making my vision to go askew. It was amazing that I did not go unconscious in the action. Surprising for him too, probably; he made no other moves until I could see enough to fight back.

However, it was like he had grown in power tenfold as I hit him. I could not begin to move the bastard. Though my fists fell upon him in a swift fury, they just as soon retracted painfully in defeat. Was he made of stone?! My hand was numb! I felt him grip my temples. I could do nothing to halt him. His smirk was triumphant and painful for me to bear, and as a curse rang inside my head at both him and myself, his victory was absolute. With little effort, he crashed my head into the lamp post.

The last thing I saw was the damnable beast walking away as my form crumpled to the street. But there was something else even more pressing: a silhouette had appeared in front of him, in a stance readied for fighting. What was it?

"No! Antonio!!" It was caught in my throat. It was too late; I blacked out.

* * *

Yay, a new story. :) Well, I hope everyone enjoyed it, and comments/reviews are welcome.

* * *


	2. Chapter 2

Numb darkness was what I enjoyed for the next few hours. I wasn't where I had gone down, either. The doctors in the hospital said that I had suffered a concussion and was required to stay in the facility for a few days. But my mind was not on my own recovery; I had to know what happened to Antonio and my other classmates.

Jordan and Jacob were both in a critical state. Had it not been for one of our fleeing group calling the police, paramedics probably would have been too late by the time they found us in the morning. They arrived, as I later realized, to three youths downed on the spot, sprawled around the area not too far from each other. My head had been bleeding and I had a few visible bruises, but for the most part the ambulance focused on the other two.

Both of them had been pale and near lifeless when the personnel could get to them. Jordan, the one who had rivaled himself against me, had traces of blood around his neck from when I had shoved that _creature_ off him. As bad as it seemed, Jordan was not nearly as damaged as Jacob had been. For when I saw the former in his hospitalized state, he was conscious, though still very shaky, and could at least give me a wobbly thumbs-up. However, the latter was still out cold by the time I was able to see him. The doctors had done their job: the kid was still breathing. A wave of relief fell over me when I heard his pulse on the heart monitor. Though I was quickly shoved from the room by concerned nurses, I was glad my inability to protect Antonio had not been Jacob's death.

Antonio had not been found. Neither at his home nor as a corpse on the street. I cursed myself countless times for my failure. How could I let that monster take him! The poor kid hadn't hurt anyone; he didn't deserve this murder! And he was most assuredly dead, from seeing what had happened to the others. But where were they when he returned to the scene of our loss, the others who had been with us at the time? The cowards didn't even turn to look back to see what fate we had fallen! They could have been able to stop Antonio from coming back!

I was still under bed-rest, so my time for wandering was too short for my liking. My family had come to see me, but I hardly noticed they were there. The tale of our tragedy for the most part fell on deaf ears, whether it was my parents or the police to find a suspect. They would not believe a monster had attacked, bitten two of our comrades and left the rest of us shaken. Nevertheless, though, they took the description of the beast and deemed me too frightened at the time to see the scene the way it truly was. It was not fear, I pleaded for them to understand, what was there had been true: some_thing_ had taken us down; no mere man could have done the same!

Useless. A deaf-mute had more credibility now. The doctors determined that Jordan and Jacob were infected with a virus that was transmitted by some diseased, drunk fool. Such an ailment caused the body to expel most of the plasma in the blood by either regurgitation or open lesions. A semi well-known epidemic that had now reached our small suburb in morbid fury. An excuse cooked up by many doctors throughout the area, no doubt, in order to hold in the former scientific impossibility that a creature could have taken us for our blood.

Though I was not able to fully accept it, either. Something that wasn't human, doing that? It was nearly incomprehensible, but what else could it have been? A mere man couldn't have taken down three judo students! And I, the instructor, found out cold and bloody. As I lie in the hospital that night in near-stunning shame, retrained to the bed due to my own weakness, I could only hang my head in frustration. I caused Antonio's death! He returned for me because I fell to that bastard! His blood was on my hands alone!

Were it not for the IV in my arm supplying me with god knows what, I would have stormed around the room or found something with which to hurt myself. Never before did I think of doing that, but my private guilt drove me half into madness. After a time, perhaps I would have driven the needle deeper into my arm, but my embarrassing discomfort with syringes halted me for at least a few minutes. My other hand gripped my head, as if in attempts to stop my violent thoughts and simply foolish conclusions. In moments of struggle, my shoulders began to bob from fighting off the angry, lonesome tears. They were standing in my eyes, pleading to be let out from anguish. An angry pride chastised the notion, thinking it weak and stupid. It must have been minutes before I realized I was not alone in the room. Indeed, not even alone in my very bed.

How long had the bastard been there? He was sitting so closely to my right side that we could touch, and still I did not notice him at all. And how did he get into the room in the first place? Visiting hours were long over; half the hospital was asleep!

In my surprise, I attempted to jump into a fighting position while minimizing my vulnerability while lying down. My movement was stopped by the man's hand enclosing my arm in somewhat of a snake-like sting, catching my arm before I could even begin to twitch.

"If you fear needles so much, mon amour, then do not try to punish yourself by stabbing your arm with them in trying to stop me. I mean no harm to you," His voice angered me, caused my hands to turn into fists, but I could do nothing as he finished, "I only wish to talk."

"Do you think I care, you murdering load of shit!" It wasn't a question now, but an angry whisper ranting my formerly smothered hate, "I'll get the doctors in here, get them to put you away! You'll pay for what you did, you son-of-a-"

"I wonder," he contemplated aloud, purposely cutting me off authoritatively, "what would happen if a wandering soul cut your dear friends' plasma IV. How long do you think they'll writhe until they're finally left for your doctors to find cold, with you helpless to-"

"What do you want from me?" I whispered, flinching at his threats, near paralyzed by his complete ability to do exactly what he described, "Why are you here?"

His hand rested on my face in such a tender way, I yanked back at the caress in shock. He pulled me back to him, never breaking his gaze with me and never losing the threat in his eyes.

"Would you like more blood on your hands?" He asked, as if reading my previous contemplations with ease, "Keep still, and keep quiet."

His face came closer to me, and despite his warnings, I could not help but tilt my head away from, him in, fear? An emotion I almost never felt; it conflicted within me. As if to help my resistance, his fingers guided my chin up, to gain my throat expertly. I could do nothing to fight the man now, holding my comrades' well-being in the balance.

"Have you never felt helplessness, mon amour?" He spoke against my neck, causing the grit on my teeth only to increase, "Have you never been at the mercy of another man?"

I struggled to keep my resolve, "Why are you here? Why did you _kill _Antonio!"

It was a question that came from within me, held in from the moment I saw he was in the room. Why did he take an innocent boy's life! Even the assault on Jordan and Jacob paled in comparison to the child's murder! Why did he do it?

The man seemed to hear my internal war, my inner struggle with Antonio's death. But he still offered a smile of triumph. _Bastard! _

"Why did you kill him! Answer me!" At the moment, I could care less for my own safety. I am ashamed to say I could care little about my other classmates, either; my only concern was the truth. I demanded it.

His fingers ran down to the base of my throat. It was such a loving touch; how I hated it! I grabbed his wrist, sick of his games. Our faces were close but I didn't care. When our eyes locked, he could see my unbreakable determination. "Answer me." I repeated, regardless of whether he had been listening the previous time. The expression on his face did not change at all.

"He was such a beautiful boy. He loved to try to get away from me. Screamed for help, screamed for _you_ countless times through the ecstasy…" I grabbed his front in anger, unable to control myself. He continued nevertheless, "He still does. Calls you name in desperation, begging to be released."

"He's alive…" I mouthed, the news too amazing. My hand involuntarily relaxed, letting the clump of his shirt free that I had held before with all my might, "He's alive?"

"I lied. What reason would I have for telling you the truth in the first place? It was too much fun watching you squirm."

"Give him back." I ordered, my vice-grip tightening to him again, "Give him back, before I-!"

"Before what, mon amour?" His temper was shown for the first time. A hand snatched my wrist and wrenched it from him without an effort. "I could kill him right now, and it would make no difference to me. I keep him for entertainment, but if you go against me or piss me off any more," One move and I was under him, under his mercy, pushed down against the bed by my neck, "I'll destroy you and everything in your life in an instant."

"Where is he?" Only slightly did I soften my tone.

"Why would I tell you that?" He replied evilly, knowing all too well he held all the advantages and all too well I would do exactly what he ordered to get him back, "Where's the amusement?"

My glare could do nothing against him now, but the gaze did not cease. His eyes glanced down my arm, the one with the damned needle, and placed his hand on it softly. The mere touch made me flinch, not because of him but my utter submission to a syringe. Shame fell over me.

"Your love for him is deafening." he taunted, touching the injection up and down, causing a tensing of all my other muscles.

My focus was askew; why was he doing this! "What are you talking about?"

"You deny it but know it's true. It's almost sickening." He feigned lamentation, gripping the needle in his hand, "You should love me."

Before I could resist, the man tore the IV from my arm. A miserable yell was then muffled by the beast's powerful hand, smothering my face to the extent that only a whimper was released. But now that the leverage against me had been extracted, I slit through the air with my hand and grasped his throat, clenching it shut with a thought. His struggle was futile, for even though he lay half on top of me, in the next moment I had pacified him beneath me, my form closing on his menacingly.

"I wonder how much pleasure it will take the boy to start calling my name in ecstasy, begging me not to stop." The desire was strained but still an all-too-clear threat. My hands were around his throat tightly just as assuredly as his were around my arms, trying to get me off. However, his taunt had only increased my rage and causing my fingers to close down on his windpipe all the more.

"You won't get a chance to find out, asshole." I whispered through clenched teeth, "Not if you're here; not if I kill you first!"

A fist flew into my solar plexus and I nearly fell from the hospital bed in shocked anguish. His eager hands were quick to catch me, though, providing a center of strength in my defeat. My arms wrapped around my stomach as my lungs felt like collapsing. He sat up, I felt it, though I couldn't look up to see him if I tried. What a strike! I had never felt such full-bodied pain; it was as if my muscles ceased to function!

His hands wrapped around me. "You should remember what you're dealing with. You're out of the world of humans and trapped within the hell of immortals. Until you die, that is."

"Are you insane?" I wheezed, scoffing at his bullshit even as I was in his will, "You're human!"

The man laughed; it sent chills through me in my doubt. He lifted me up, though I still didn't have the strength to do so myself.

His voice, his breath was cold on my ear, "You have two choices, mon amour." Our bodies were snug against each other, "You can agree to seeing your tender lover, and submit to everything I demand when we're there, or," An arm snatched the back of my head, and shoved me to the side of his face, "I can kill him, leaving the death on your hands and to await my inevitable return for you."

I could hardly breathe; I could hardly see. But I could hear my opportunity to help Antonio. My throat was near closed by then, but I was just able to voice my resistance: a doubt that had arisen soon after he had offered his assistance.

"I can't believe you; how do I know he's alive?"

"Either you take my word or leave him to truly die, mon ami." He smiled, for he knew I could not argue, could not resist.

"Take me." I pleaded, releasing myself to his mercy. My head dropped in submission.

I think he hit me in the back of the head, just as before, and powerfully on my already softened flesh from my concussion. Not even did I feel myself slump before I saw the darkness. However, it could only have been ten minutes at the most, because I awoke all too soon for my exhausted body. And all too soon as well, for I lay in the arms of the beast, his eyes digging into mine.

"For one so supposedly masculine, mon amour, you sleep like a woman." It was as much of a threat as admiration. His smile hardly held any malevolence. He let me down as a gentleman might, and let me stand while I regained equilibrium slowly, "Beautiful, and yet you hold the peaceful expression of perfect helplessness."

"Just because you held me for a while doesn't mean you can talk to me like you haven't done anything!"

"I've already told you: I haven't killed him." he assured me, though I couldn't care for his words. The man knew this, as I knew it, because he motioned with his hand in a careless way over to the left of the room. Details that I had not seen were still ignored by me, for I followed his gesture and found my endeavor at last.

He was a still form upon the bed but it didn't matter. I ran to him, stopping at the edge and calling him awake. After a few seconds, he moved, groggily, opening his eyes to me but not truly seeing until a moment later. Antonio, my valued friend, almost jumped on me in pure fear, his body trembling horribly. I held him pitying his ragged state: his shirt had been completely removed, bruises covering his arms as most assuredly as the twisted man's kisses had. Filled with anger, I held Antonio's head to me as I turned to find the bastard sitting comfortably in a loveseat, watching our interaction with a smug smirk. My glare could not be rivaled.

"How beautiful. An amazing reunion."

"Shut up."

I ignored his presence as I walked to the door of the suite, the one my mind now registered. Before I could get to it, however, the beast spoke.

"Why do you believe you can get away from me?" His smile and taunting tone was gone. He was completely calm.

"Because we're leaving." I replied in an unshakable and authoritative voice.

"Our agreement."

And completely in control.

"Forget it. I said it to get you to bring me here." My honor was nothing here, not against this…thing. I reached the handle of the door, but stopped from a call at my back.

"Justin, don't do it!" Antonio pleaded, his voice losing proximity as he approached me.

I turned the knob, not listening to my junior's judgment. To my surprise, it was not locked. What was he warning me about? The door opened, gaining our freedom with more ease than my sense had thought it logical.

The man was there.

Somehow, in some supernatural way, when I opened the door, he was there, in front of me. In a near invisible move, he shoved me backward and into the room, causing me to fall entirely to the ground. Antonio panicked, running to the man, snatching his shoulders and begging him to spare me. By the time the boy got to him, I was up, voicing my own rebuttal.

"There's nothing you can do to keep us here!" I yelled, hands in fists, "We _will _leave!"

"Justin…" Antonio whispered, trying to get my attention, coming closer to me, "Don't go against him; you don't know who and what he is!"

"He's some sick freak that has been screwing with us for too long. I'll end this!"

"No, you don't understand." He gripped my arm from the side, "He's not human!"

I gave him an impatient and annoyed look that showed my complete disbelief in what he told me.

"You must start listening to him, mon amour." The man suggested fluidly from the door frame. Ever so slowly, he walked inward, coming toward us with utmost control, "The boy tells the truth."

"What the hell are you, then?" I asked angrily.

"Why, I am the Vampire Lestat."

* * *

**Translation note:**  
Mon ami: My friend

I hope everyone enjoyed it. Reviews are welcome, and thanks for them. :)


	3. Chapter 3

AP exams are over and I'm updating at last! Please enjoy this chapter, because I worked incredibly hard on it! :DDD

Lestat de Lioncourt is not my property, but he is Anne Rice's. He'll have to deal with that. Everyone else is mineeeee.

* * *

"What the hell is a Lestat?" I asked, split between a daze and frustration. How could he be speaking the truth! My realistic mind refused to believe it, "You aren't a vampire."

"Would you like me to prove it?" He stretched his arms to the side, as if opening himself to an embrace, "An effortless and pleasurable process, I assure you."

On an instinct, I gripped Antonio around the shoulders with my left arm and pulled him backward slightly, away from the man. My breathing had changed from the moment he moved.

"Why are you so silent, mon amour? Do you hate me, now that you know me?" His face held a twisted smile.

"I _don't _know you. And I don't care who you are, either! We will leave; there's nothing-"

"I can do?" He finished for me, "To stop two boys? You don't know who you're mocking." He came forward, snatching me by the shoulders. His expression changed into a smirk. "Were it not for the sun, I would learn you: gladly."

The man released me and left for the open door. Lestat, as he called himself, began to close it, but as he did, never did he bother to latch the thing shut. I found this egotistical and foolish. At once, I went for the handle, not caring at all for his threats. Antonio wouldn't let me. He tugged on the back of my shirt. "Don't." he warned.

"Why are you afraid of him?" I scolded, tugging the clothing free, "Why didn't you run when you could?"

He ran to the door, blockading it with his form. His arms were outstretched.

"Sensei." He prompted, using the honorific to gain my attention, "Please. You can't be this stupid." Antonio's stare was unrelenting.

My eyes narrowed involuntarily from his insult. However, I could see he was serious, and replied, "What do you want me to hear?"

He said nothing for many seconds and as my patience thinned just as quickly, I began to think he would not answer his superior. It was not defiance that halted him, though; his eyes seemed to blank out, and he toppled forward from what I saw as sheer weakness. I couldn't reach Antonio as he hit the ground, but I gathered him up in an instant, placing him in the chair Lestat had been in before.

"You already know, but his name is Lestat de Lioncourt." Antonio explained once he recovered. I kneeled on the ground below him, ready to hold the boy up if he happened to lose strength again, "Two-hundred year old vampire…I thought it couldn't happen…"

"Antonio, how do you know this? Has he hurt you before? I'll-!"

"No. Justin, listen to me." He grabbed my arm in all seriousness, "You'll have to learn to stop acting like an instructor if you're going to listen. You're not all powerful here. We're not in the dojo anymore; this is a fucking vampire's nest!"

His language only made me pause for a second. Though he rarely spoke in such a way, I was sure his continued experience with the sick beast had altered him in more ways than the purple bruises on his bare skin. I nodded begrudgingly, putting his safety before my pride.

"It's a book series; a bestseller about a decade ago. But that's the thing: he's a book character! He's not supposed to be real!" Antonio gripped the sides of his head in fear or shock, I couldn't know for sure, "But he is. And he almost killed Jacob and Jordan! Tell me they're alright."

I nodded. "Critical condition, but they're tough sons-of-bitches. They'll hold."

A pitiful, unfocused smile crossed his features, and disappeared before I could appreciate it.

"He's stronger than you could imagine. But I saw you get trashed by him, so I guess you've experienced it firsthand." I touched the back of my head as he spoke, "Lestat fucks with your mind. He can hear what you think, and uses it against you, so you can't fight back." His eyes traveled to the side, in great shame. "Can't resist."

I put my hand on his knee to steady him. He looked up at me, expressionless, as if his mind was in another world entirely.

"He can't be killed. Other…creatures have tried: burning, dismembering, name it. He has always returned stronger. He's too old; he's been to hell and back, Justin!"

"I understand. But I don't need his biography. Tell me what I need to do to get him away from you."

"Weren't you listening, idiot!" Antonio cried, frustrated, "There's no way out! We're fucked!" He held his face in his hands, while I grasped his shoulders.

"If you give in to despair that easily, then we are. Do you think our master would be pleased if she heard you talk like that?" I asked, knowing his great respect for the older woman, just as everyone in the dojo had.

"Even she would fall to him, and with more ease than I want to admit." He looked me honestly in the eye as his hands rolled into fists, "What does it matter; we're not going to see anyone we love again!"

I grew more and more irritated the longer he spoke. What had happened to him, what had happened to the spirited kid I knew from my dojo! On an impulse, I stood and punched him squarely in the face. The power was so great; he was tossed to the side, nearly out of his chair. He was completely stunned.

"I can't take this bullshit from you anymore." I warned, hand still in a fist, "Jacob didn't wind up in the god damned hospital because he thought saving you was futile and pointless! No, he spared you the condition _he's_ stuck in right now out of friendship and _courage!_ Something I've seen absent from you since that night." I could see him gripping the spot where I had struck him. With an authority I could only gain from my instructor position, I walked in front of him, pulling his face toward me to force his attention, and said, "You're getting out of here; you need to thank him for what he did for you. Got that? Make that your drive, and make that your strength against the hopelessness!"

My grand speech somehow made an impact on him. Antonio's eyes seemed to come back into focus. There wasn't any anger left in the expression, only quiet understanding.

"I thank you too, sensei." He told me quietly, "And I promise I'll help us get out of here, in any way possible. No more bitching from me, I swear it."

Antonio stood up and faced me with strength in his eyes again. We _would _get out of here, alive. We would not die here. In the midst of my thought, the boy's eyes dissolved their power and took on a state of shyness.

"Could I…hug you?" He looked away in embarrassment. "You don't know what's happened to me. I mean, I was afraid he'd- And I know it's stupid and-"

"Antonio. You've been through hell. Acting like a woman is the least of your problems. For now," I snatched him before he could look toward me or protest, "I know you miss your mother. Just hold onto me in the meantime."

He chuckled. "Now you sound like a girl."

In order to regain my quickly diminishing masculinity, I rebutted, "Shut up; you're the one who wanted it."

"I did." Antonio held tighter, "Thanks."

The boy's skin felt cold and fragile. I let him go to get a blanket from the bed near us and threw it over his shoulders. It pained me to see my comrade, my friend, in such a degraded condition; the bastard must have tried to…I stopped before I could think of it. I told Antonio to sit and rest before he talked to me any more.

For the first time in the whole episode of my arrival, I noticed the interior of the room. Lestat had spoiled the boy: the place was a suite of suites, large and filled with modern furniture of dark and bold shades alike. Our sitting area was on the far end of the quarters, set off from the rest with a drop in the wood paneling. The chairs were simple enough, matching the coffee table in simple design. As I looked around further, Antonio situated himself in a seat; I saw his right hand side held an eccentric bookcase, filled modestly with pieces. The bed was on the far back wall, away from the rest of the room but large enough to engulf the corner's space. French windows separated us from the elegant balcony that permitted a view of wherever the hell we were. If I was lucky, we still resided in the same city. Rich bastard really could have taken us anywhere, judging on what he had provided for mere captives.

"I could hardly believe the room myself when I first saw it, though it wasn't really the first thing on my mind." He always had a sharp eye; he saw me scanning the room if it was only for a second. "When I used to read his books, I used to wonder what it would be like to have all that money and power and to stay in a place like this. I hate retribution.

"Justin, do you remember the time I didn't go to the dojo for two weeks because I said my koi died and I was mourning the loss?" Antonio asked suddenly as if on a whim.

I stared at him for a couple of seconds because I couldn't really recall such a vague story. It clicked eventually. "That bullshit excuse? Yeah. Master made you run laps around the building for an hour after that one."

A smile crossed his face, a glimmer of happiness now-lost, "I was reading those books."

"You what?"

"The whole series, really. I couldn't stop to go to class if I wanted to. They were too…amazing. He- the way he wrote just fascinated me, to the point where…"

"Why didn't you just tell us that instead of coming up with that lame-ass defense?" I questioned.

"You guys would've thought I was a pussy, I know it." Antonio said sheepishly.

"I think we would've believe you were some obsessed nut, but a pussy? Why do you care about our opinions?"

He looked away. It was something a lot of kids did, right? Worrying about his superiors' views of him was normal, I tried to justify. For whatever reason, though, I couldn't get it out of my system that he was giving the matter more thought than he let on. My own bit of concern flowed out as I stared at him, his attention on the balcony.

The vampire had left from the sun, and now the orb was burning in its early morning splendor. Though he had gone, we still sat as if waiting for his polite return! I had yet to hear the reasoning behind our stay, and I questioned Antonio eagerly with my rising anger.

"You can't figure it out yourself?" He challenged, another sign of disrespect I had heard since I was brought there. Antonio leaned back in his seat, contemplating something, "He told me, before he left yesterday," His hands gripped the blanket, "Held me close so I couldn't get free, that I could leave if I pleased, run if I wanted, but he would find everyone in my life and slaughter them like pigs. You, my friends, our master." He paused and looked to the floor in near-despair, "My mother."

I could not repress a grimace. A father who died at a premature time left both Antonio and his mother alone. She was really all he had left. On more than one occasion, I had brought him home to her and talked to the woman. Such a saint. He loved her so much it was deafening, and he always tried to make her proud by bringing home stories from the dojo. A working woman, she was tired by the early evening after coming home, but she listened without protest to every single one of his tales. The thought of that monster near his mother sickened me to the point where I could feel bile crawling up my throat.

Antonio spoke gently, "No doubt he holds the same promises for you. That's why we can't hope for escape or rescue. We're so fucked it's beyond despair."

"I told you to stop that. It won't help us in any way." I chastised, "I said I'd get you out of here, and I'll get you out unharmed."

"Tell that to my bruises."

"Then without any _further_ harm." I corrected, wincing from his comment.

"He takes us for _blood_, Justin." Antonio said gravely, adjusting the blanket closer around him, "He'll never give up his food that easily."

I watched his expression as my mind worked to find the answer. Thought it seemed much further than hopeless, I was determined to help my friend. I brought myself from the chair to walk to the boy across from me.

"For now, even if we're in a vampire's nest," I offered my hand to him, "Rest. You'll be safe with me, at least until sundown. You won't be able to do anything if you're starved for sleep."

His face was a mix of gratitude and guilt. He was the reason I was here, but I didn't care. It was _my_ fault I couldn't help him that night, which seemed like ages ago. I looked at him. He was nervous and unsure of the darkness to come, but I was determined to provide a strong arm to hold. With a quick motion, Antonio brought himself forward and wrapped his arms around my stomach tightly. Before I could even say anything, he murmured:

"Sorry. I'm just thankful you're here. I can't say I believe you'll get us out of here, but it's better than facing him alone."

I smiled to myself as he released his hold. My arm guided Antonio towards the bed he sorely needed. Not long after he hit the mattress, he was out. I kept a watchful eye on him from the sitting area we had used on the other side of the room.

I must've sat there for a score of minutes before I truly relaxed. The sun had began its descent, and there wasn't much time before the bastard Lestat made his return. There was only one option that I had for his sick games; my drive for Antonio's safety was too strong to simply give in to the vampire's will. Antonio was too important to me, too important to the ones we had left behind in those quiet suburbs.

My legs wouldn't stop moving. I paced even as the twilight dwindled. I shifted nervously in my thoughts.

The door all but flew of its hinges when Lestat appeared. Arrogant and uncaring, he shut it without a touch, using a power solely implemented from the mind. Antonio had warned me of this; I would have to be cautious, as to not be caught off-guard again.

"Mon amour, do you wait so eagerly for my return?" He asked of me, though his attention and his step was toward the boy on the bed.

"Get away from him, Lestat." He stopped. Either the use of his name or my defiance did it; he stopped and turned to me. The man smiled.

"And what do you suppose I should do?" His voice only gained amusement when he saw my faltering expression of anger. He went toward me. "How do you expect me to feed?"

"Evil Doer." Antonio gasped, barely audible to us from across the room, "Why do you not take the Evil Doer! You're supposed to!"

Lestat disappeared. I saw him, and then he was gone. The next thing I knew was Antonio's yell of surprise. I looked to the bed and saw the vampire already hanging over him like a dog does when it's about to tear the throat of its prey. I wasn't quick enough to get to them before I heard him speak.

"Don't be naïve." Lestat purred ominously, Antonio frozen beneath him, "Where's the fun in that?"

"But your books! You said-"

"An immortal cannot lie?" He ran his hand up the boy's neck. Antonio was too frightened by his sudden appearance to fight back.

"Off of him, vampire scum!" I sounded like an archaic priest but I couldn't care. My hands planted on the bed's edge, my own fear too strong to go nearer.

"Why? Why should I give up my sweet boy," Lestat asked, capturing Antonio's chin and bringing it close to his. The boy grasped his hands in defiance, but the vampire's advantages were far too numerous. As he continued, the beast pulled him so close they could kiss, "When there is still so much that can be done?"

An idea flowed through me as he spoke, one I lamented thinking of in the first place. My pride would die, but if it helped Antonio from this hell, I decided I would do anything.

"A bargain." My hands gripped the covers tightly, "Him for me. Let me take his place and allow him to walk free."

He looked at me with a curious face, "Now, why would I do that when I have two precious, squirming boys to myself?"

I looked down. Of course he would think of that, it was obvious. He knew his advantages, but I had hoped he would be foolish, if only for a minute. I had wanted to avoid my only choice of action, but it would have to be used now.

"I'll do anything you ask," I submitted, his face changing into a triumphant smirk. I looked up, staring him down nonetheless, "but let Antonio go."

"You've broken this promise before, need I remind you?" He answered matter-of-factly, "Why should I believe you?"

"Why should I believe a vampire would let him go? We both have something to lose if we don't cooperate." _Although you have much less to lose, but…_

"Smart boy. But too intelligent to follow my command, despite my threats?" He finally lifted himself off Antonio and hopped gracefully to the floor, facing me man-to-man.

"You didn't give me an order. If you told me to follow a demand back at the hospital, I would have listened. I wouldn't have broken my word." It was true. But I hated to remind him.

"I know you haven't, mon amour, but I fear you might reject me." The feign was unmistakable and dramatic, and did nothing to ease my anxiety.

"Does a vampire need to fear anything?" I asked, speaking with the poetic tone he had chosen.

He snatched my back and face with each of his hands before I could resist. Just moments previous, he had held Antonio this intimately. And though I fought him with even more vigor than my underling, it did nothing against his unrelenting body.

"Merely loneliness, love." He placed his hand on my cheek, my body stiffening from its cold. "But I won't have to fear anymore, will I?"

I gritted my teeth against his soft words. It was for Antonio, I thought, let him do as he wishes. If it was for Antonio…

"Then you will sacrifice all." Lestat finished for me. My eyes couldn't bear his smirk; I looked away in forced acceptance. He released me, and faced the boy, who had been, up until now, trying to get off the bed without the vampire's notice, "Lucky child. What one would do for you is boundless, you are so lovely."

"Don't go near him. That was our deal!" A flash of anger filled my voice, though the consequences could be dire.

"Have I?" Lestat looked to me rapidly, challenging me. He taunted my outburst with a control in his tone, "You are so quick to destroy your loyalty, defying me so perfectly."

I stepped backward from discomfort and frustration. Every one of my words had to be weighed against my desire to protect Antonio. Out of unwilling respect, I lowered my head. Lestat turned back to the boy.

"Now, where to drop you?" He put a hand to his chin, "There are so many choices. The next street, the next city… Ah, how terrifying would it be if you were stuck in a foreign land, at the mercy of strangers!"

"What the hell are you talking about?" So much for weighing. "You promised you would let him go!"

"I will not break my word." He replied flatly. His devilish grin was stuck to his face. "But I cannot help if you failed to tell me to leave him safe or where to leave him at all."

"In our city! In our town!" I yelled back, my body rigid with fury.

"Excusez-moi, mon ami; that wasn't part of our agreement." He bowed theatrically, "I will do with him as I wish. Try to stop me and the only person breaking our accord, will be you."

He was in complete control.

I yelled in sheer defeat and dropped to my knees, holding my head. I whispered, "Antonio, Antonio…" over again but could do nothing. I couldn't watch Lestat take my companion out of the room, screaming my name all the while. I had been beaten. I was at a vampire's mercy, and my comrade, my _friend_, would be lost to me forevermore.

* * *

I'm not sure if it's a cliffhanger or not, but I hoped you liked it either way. Review it with your thoughts, please! :)


	4. Chapter 4

The sun was up before Lestat returned, and so I knew I had until nightfall to myself and my thoughts. How could I have allowed that bastard to lure us into this hell! I could have done something to stop him, dammit!

Even though I hadn't slept for now two days, exhaustion could not begin to bite at me. Guilt and anger held me. I couldn't think of anything else. At first, all I managed to do was pace and squirm in my seat as I allowed myself no reprieve from the anguish. I promised myself as the sun dropped, I would not settle near the bed, which I had miraculously avoided thus far. At all costs, I would not to the same fate as Antonio. A shudder whipped through me.

I must have sat in the same place for hours, though, after I had calmed myself to one seat. In my worry and mixed emotions, I decided to meditate, something my master had always suggested. I had failed to try it until that moment, however. Truly, I had no other choices or options, and performed the technique for the majority of the time I had left to myself. I stayed completely still, closing my eyes and kept my breathing steady. The much needed break from my overworked mind was welcomed, and I had little difficulty falling into an almost dream-like state. Minutes passed, as did hours, and finally I had some miniscule amount of sorely desired rest.

Throughout this, not a soul bothered me, something I found strange. No housekeeping or room service had even come near this room; indeed, I had not heard commotion anywhere around me this whole time! Where were the other people in this place?

I didn't think about it much. I let it pass away as I continued my meditative state. Before I could fully appreciate the day, it slipped from my grasp while I was in my half-slumber. I opened my eyes as the sky was turning orange, knowing full well what the darkness would bring. I knew this fact, but I could do nothing to prepare for it. What could I do? Even if that monster had put Antonio in a safe place (something I believed to be out of his nature entirely), there was no guarantee Lestat would leave him unharmed if I resisted his will in the slightest.

As I understood this face, the door opened, politely and quietly, as if attempting not to wake a sleeping guest. A form slipped inside, snapping the frame shut with simple efficiency. My muscles tensed as the calm heartbeat gained from my controlled breathing was destroyed by apprehension. A trained martial arts psyche screamed for my immediate move into a fighting position, but I had to resist. It nearly killed me to do so. I stood, unmoving, in front of the chair I had been in before, able to see the vampire so quickly approaching me.

He smiled, happy to see his new servant. "Did you not find my wealth useful, love? You look unwashed and haggard. Have you eaten? I wouldn't want my food to be any poorer due to your negligence."

"Forgive me if I didn't find it comfortable to use it as your captive, Lestat." I replied sharply. _Run! Get away!_ My senses screamed for my escape. I tried my best to smother them, for if Antonio spoke the truth, then Lestat could hear them as easily as my spoken words.

A flicker in his eye confirmed it. "Poor boy. You're so afraid it's deafening." Lestat came nearer to me. I could only put my hands into fists. Resisting him was fatal. "Compared to your lover, you can't even move."

I looked downward with controlled emotions. My voice was steady, but strained. "As you wish, Lestat."

It was as if I could just _feel_ his laughter, although I could hear none. Damn him.

"Come here, Justin." Of course he knew my name. By this time, I sure there was nothing he didn't know about me. Lestat opened his arms up in an exaggerated, almost theatrical gesture. My legs started walking before my proud mind could protest. I was his in another moment. "Beautiful warrior."

If anger flowed through me at that moment, I couldn't know, for I was too numb with shame. I could not truly believe that I had been trapped in such a way, caught by an immortal creature. Reality was too obvious and abrupt for me to deny it. The vampire gripped my front and snatched a handful of my shirt to him. His preternatural power was more than enough to tear it from me. However, despite his action, I made no moves against him or any attempt to flee. I found it pointless to resist when the action held so many things in the balance. If I fought, my loved ones would die. That was more than enough to stop me.

Lestat made a sound of approval as he cast the cloth away. His hand touched my now bare shoulder. It was cold, too cold to be living. My eyes widened, not being able to stop myself from recoil away from his fingers. With an evil smirk, he lunged at me, catching the small of my back with his other hand and crushing me against him. The size difference between us was painful; my face getting smashed up against his shoulder. The larger man's intention, of course.

"Such a beautiful boy. You are so stiff and tense, mon amour. Why are you? Have I done anything horrible to you yet?" The addition of _yet_ chilled me, making me even more rigid in his arms. As if in response to that, the vampire used that same telekinetic force he had used to close the door the night previous to throw me from his arms. My back cracked up against the wood plank of the bed that held the mattress in place. Burning pain flowed through me. I kept still, leaning against it on my haunches. He walked toward where I lay low, and continued, "Though it seems my desire to do so had only increased from your glamour."

I still stayed there, knowing I couldn't fight back, but barely able to keep my frustration from consuming me. "Asshole." I rasped, my voice hoarse.

I was met with his face next to mine, his body crouching over me. His hand was around my neck in an instant, crushing the air out of me. "Why do you hate me so?" he asked, feigning near despair, "I would only give you love." Lestat smiled.

"You're a liar and a murderer. That's all you'll amount to." Though I did not physically struggled against him, my defiance was more than apparent. Much to my dismay.

"It's unfortunate," he began, lifting me clear into the air with ease, "That you don't accept me. However," A thought had me thrown upon the covers, "I will have what I desire regardless."

As I started to inch backward, Lestat vanished, moving too quickly for me to follow. I knew he would be right on top of me in a half-second; I rolled wildly to the right, trying to get off the bed. Pressure to my back stopped me in mid-roll. It halted me when I tried to lift myself from the blankets. I realized he had, during this time, also locked out my elbow at an angle away from my body. His hand snaked up my back. I trembled.

"How much can I make you scream tonight, before I'm finished?" I could hear his breath, right against my ear, thick with lust, aching to do as he threatened, "How much will you beg?"

"Why do you do this?" My voice shook with horror. I had no hope of escape. I had never felt so helpless, so weak to another, another _man's_ will.

His hand slid down my exposed back to the inside of my thigh. I could feel his breath on the back of my neck now. "Why, I love to do it. I enjoy this." Chilling.

The hand on my leg moved as I tried to get up, slamming me back into the covers by my locked arm. My joint screamed in protest; my mouth, open from my exclamation, was snapped shut, teeth clicking together painfully. Fire soared through my whole frame. Lestat was enjoying every second. "Don't do this-!" I whispered nonetheless.

I felt his grasp my wrist. "Your deal has not been broken yet, love." He straddled me, snatching my arms back to him, making my head lift involuntarily. His face was next to mine. "Be still and scream for me, or I'll make you so weak you won't be able to stand."

Strangely, he released my arms and got off. He brought me to laying on my back, and watched, to see if I would try to get away. I did not.

He was overjoyed. But it was not fear that held me. Nor was it any love for him. His threats were all too clear in his eyes; he could destroy my loved ones with an effort. My frustration was obvious. I didn't want this!

"Don't do this. Please." I pleaded again, knowing it to be useless anyway.

"Why? Will you stop me?"

I couldn't reply. He lunged forward suddenly to the side of my face, where our cheeks met, and blew a cold breath on my neck. My hands gripped the covers, wanting to hide my shiver. It had begun.

He bit at my neck, not drawing blood, as if showing a desire to attack but not having the ability. His hands slid down my sides, exciting feelings that I wouldn't admit to. With care, he traveled down, leaving red and purple marks from his teeth along the way, to my now-erect nipple. He sucked at it mercilessly, causing me to spasm beneath his body. I emitted a sound that I didn't realize I could make. I felt shamed. He smirked against the tender flesh. The vampire bit hard into me, my cry not nearly suppressed and mixed with both agony and forced pleasure.

"Why can't you take your blood and leave?! You don't have to do this!" I stammered between heavy breaths. I saw my hands were caught within Lestat's yellow hair. How long had I been like that?

"But it is so much better when I can hear your pleading. Do not deny your pleasure." He bit down harder on the reddened skin.

I _could_ deny it. I was afraid and angry and helpless. My body was reacting to what my mind rejected. _But I couldn't stop it. _Never had I been touched this way. I could feel myself growing hard out of no desire of my own. I screamed and yelled and wasn't able to stop myself. He was causing me to buck with passion.

Out of nowhere his nail scraped right above my hip. It was a shallow gash, but blood pooled all the same. As he lapped up the liquid, I heard myself whimper; would he attack? Would he drain me fully? Another cut was made on my stomach. Here, he treated my body tenderly, wrapping his fingers around my sides and nipping at the cut, making it larger, but still reluctant to sink his teeth. One of his hands unhooked my belt expertly. My body grew tense, knowing the bulge in my jeans would reveal to him all too much. But I made no move to halt him. He still caressed my wound with gentle strokes of his tongue, but his hand began to work on another area entirely.

"You like this." Lestat stated, holding my organ in his palm, "It's obvious, mon amour."

"Stop-!" I commanded. It would be ignored.

It was like he grew tired of the small sounds he drew from me. He traveled to where his hand had caught me. Lestat placed his face there, smiling at my hands gripped fiercely to the bed, his hair too far away for me to hold onto it. In all one motion, he tore the cloth covering me and took the entire organ into his mouth.

My body lit on fire. My back arched and I yelled so loud I couldn't believe the sound came from me. He sucked hard, relentlessly, tearing me from agonized moans and cries as pleasure engulfed me. I couldn't take it, the conflict. Each stroke of his tongue, each nibble of his teeth, electrified some deep, carnal lust that I had never felt. My body wanted so much to submit to him, to feel the desire and the pleasure fully, but I _couldn't_. I didn't want this; I never would! But it wouldn't stop him; no, never.

I felt a rising heat, a rising passion. I knew I would come, just as I twisted and arched with it. Lestat knew this, and did not halt, but sucked faster and harder. Only that wasn't the only thing he did as he knew my end was close.

He sank his teeth into me.

I screeched with the intense pain, and the intense pleasure at the same time. I could feel my blood being drained from the quivering flesh, and it was as if he never stopped in his assault. It was even better. The more he took, the higher state of passion I was in. He felt it too, for I heard him moan against the wound just as I cried against him. I could hear my heart slowing with the blood being taken from me, and I could feel my climax.

He pulled away and I came. Seed spilled onto the covers, but Lestat paid it no attention. I couldn't move. Sheer exhaustion attacked my limbs, making even a simple breath laborious. The vampire almost looked the same, his head swimming with blood, _my_ blood, dizzying him. He looked down at me in triumph. His victim, helpless beneath him, helpless from the immobility in his limbs. Lestat was in complete control.

"I would have all of you, if this vampiric body allowed it. A pity." Lestat leaned down on me, his face near mine, breathing down on my neck once more. "But I think you're content with this arrangement, aren't you?"

I breathed heavily. I could almost not speak. "Let me go. I can't…can't take this."

He stared at me, amusement crossing his features. "I never wanted your sweet lover, you know," he told me. His hand touched the side of my face with utmost care. It was warm, warm from my life, my blood. "He was never what I wanted. Only you, mon amour. A squirming, struggling boy, who would entertain and nourish me. Antonio, nor your other companions, could ever do that. I wanted none of them. I had watched and waited to take you, just when you were vulnerable."

"What?" I whispered; it the only thing I could do. "You watched me?"

"For months."

"Then you…planned this? All of it?" My eyes went wide with disbelief.

Lestat nodded. "All of it."

"It was all a game!" I half-yelled. I was a toy? A coveted item? I couldn't take this.

"It was. And how fun it was. But, mon ami, don't you know what this night means? What this wonderful rape means to me?"

I stared at him, fury flowing through me by then.

"You lose."

* * *

Review if you thought it was decent. Thanks for reading.


	5. Chapter 5

I had formed a pitiful curled up ball on the corner of the bed. My body ached and my head throbbed and I felt like crying. But _he_ was there.

He, the Vampire Lestat, who had taken so much from me, including my cries for freedom. My whole body felt vulnerable, like it would break if he so much as touched me. A cold, lonely feeling crept up my spine. I was trapped.

Lestat was near and he placed the back of his hand on my cheek with such a tenderness he almost seemed human. I shrank back, losing all resolve for resistance, fearing him as my tormentor. He couldn't do anything but love it.

"Go wash yourself and I'll have clothes and food sent up for you." Lestat whispered to me gently. "Did you think this suite was for my own use? Don't waste it."

I felt his weight lift from beside me on the bed and I realized that I had my eyes shut tight the whole time he was speaking to me. It was as if I was some frightened puppy who cowered at the first crack of the whip. But that's what I had been reduced to. And I knew he was leaving when I heard his footsteps trail off to the other side of the room.

"Tell me. Please, tell me: Is Antonio safe?" I rasped, frightened to even speak with that monster. "At least let me know!"

I heard the footsteps pause, as if Lestat was thinking about my question, but when I heard the door open and slam shut, I knew I wouldn't get an answer from him.

* * *

By sunrise I had dragged myself to the bathroom and taken off the pair of jeans that had been half trashed by the rape. I had taken one look at myself, with only a pair of boxers clinging to my frame, and was in utter despair. Blue and purple bruises, just like the ones Antonio had on his arms, were all over my bare skin. Where Lestat had touched me there were red, irritated patches of skin, where he nipped and sucked my flesh, there were blotches so dark they were almost black. I was disgusted. I had no strength in my legs and fell to the black tiles, holding my face in my hands.

I cried. I hadn't since I came to that place where Lestat reigned, but I cried for a long time. For my classmates, for Antonio, and finally, for myself. I was hurt and alone and in half despair. I didn't know what to do, or how to get away. I hated and feared the man who was so enamored with me, and I was so terrified I of what he would do to me next that I could hardly stand. For minutes, I just sat there, letting that little puddle of tears on the tile grow larger each passing second. It was so long that my face dried up, having no more tears to shed. Though my eyes were blurry, I walked over to the large bath and got the water running.

I shed the boxers and stepped into the overly large tub. There were about twenty tiny glass bottles with lotions and soaps that I could have used, but for a while, I simply lay there in the water until it turned lukewarm. I couldn't enjoy it even if I wanted to. My mind wouldn't focus; every time I tried to move, I thought of that man's hands on my body, and I nearly broke down again. However, I fought it, scrubbing my already reddened skin with the flowery soaps meant for a woman and used shampoos that must have been over one hundred dollars a bottle. They didn't make me feel any less filthy. It didn't make me feel any less vulnerable. But I knew it couldn't help. I lifted myself from the water.

There were towels in a cabinet not far from the mirror and sink. I dried my shoulder length waves, and let my body cool from the tub. Wrapping the towel around my waist, I went into the bedroom, hearing the suite's doors just close. My eyes followed the movement, already alert, but by then whoever it was had left. I looked back to the bed and found clothes to change into. I thought it was strange that the person's timing had been near perfection, and that I had not seen or heard any other being on the floor until that moment, but I attached it all to the supernatural influence of Lestat. Even thinking of his name made a sweat break out on my forehead.

On the bed lay a pair of jeans. There was no shirt to be found. It was frustrating to see that I had to remain bare for this lustful vampire. With that thought, I saw that any signs of the scuffle, the torn remains of my shirt, the rumpled, soiled bed sheets, had all been removed and, in the case of the bed, cleaned. After dressing, I threw the towel into the bathroom and closed the door, forgetting the break down I had had just a short time ago.

Before I could lay on the bed, I saw a tray near the coffee table and chairs that Antonio and I had used a few days ago when we talked. We had held each other close not far from that spot, and even with my cleaned skin, it was as if I could still feel him, still smell his hair. Loneliness again crept through me. I shook it off and walked to the tray. It had a sandwich and a glass of juice on a plate.

My body had the capacity to eat huge amounts of food. I was not large or stocky, but my metabolism was quick and my frame strong enough to support muscle. However, when nervous or upset, I often refused to eat much of anything. Antonio's mother hated it when I did that, and frequently scolded me when she forced me to eat over and I couldn't have much more than a mouthful of rice and beans. Lestat, though, seemed to have predicted my sour appetite and made sure that the proportions were just large enough so I wouldn't throw it back up.

How many men had he brought here, just to toy with them? To kill them? How long would he keep me alive?

I decided not to think about that, knowing it would do more harm then I needed. There was a newspaper there, too, to the left of the plate. I sat down, took a small bite of the sandwich and picked it up. It was a local newspaper, one from my hometown. On the bottom of the front page was an article about the attack and how I had gone missing just as Antonio had returned home. They even had a quote from Antonio's mother, saying it was a miracle I was able to find her boy. She went on to say that she would pray for my safe return. I looked down the column. There was a quote from Antonio, too.

"I'll find him; I don't care what it takes. Justin saved my life. I'll get that kidnapper and I'll kill him!"

I had a feeling they had changed the quote for the sake of their article. He knew what Lestat was, and he wasn't a common kidnapper. And he would never be able to kill the creature that had me now.

Throwing down the paper, sick to see it anymore, I finished the last corner of the bread, downed the juice and timidly walked back to the bed. I saw the covers, smoothed out and showing no signs of what horrors I had been subjected to the night before. I couldn't bear the idea of what the night was to bring, but I knew I hadn't slept in days. Despite my better sense, despite what had happened, I fell on the bed, utterly exhausted.

It was a long, deep sleep. A train could have come by and I wouldn't have woke up. And the bed was soft, much better quality than my family could ever afford. It struck me while I was reading the newspaper that my parents had not offered a statement. Then I remembered at the hospital, how they wouldn't listen to my story about the crazed man. I couldn't really accept that they didn't care about me; they were my family. How had my disappearance changed them?

It was a local newspaper. Did that mean I wasn't far from home? Or did Lestat bring that for me, to weaken my resolve? The police could never find me. And Antonio couldn't-

Well, when I read Antonio had been found, a wave of relief hit me. It seems whether Lestat wanted to or not, my question had been answered. From that information alone, I felt worlds better. As for the others, the article also included Jacob and Jordan's improving health. For those miracles, I was able to sleep peacefully.

But that still left me. Lestat got what he wanted, yet his motives didn't seem to be connecting. In vain, I desperately attempted to figure him out. Maybe an immortal mind is just too much for humans to comprehend.

I woke up, at least ten hours later, and hardly able to lift myself from the grogginess. For a few seconds, my eyes were blurry, too comfortable with the now-fading darkness. I had slept on my stomach. In one motion, I had flipped over and stretched my limbs, the joints creaking in protest. The room was dark and I saw no slits of light through the heavy drapes that had been placed in front of the many windows in the room. Panic snaked through me. I shot up.

There was no one there but it didn't quell my fears. I slipped off the bed with as much speed as I could without making much noise. If he wasn't here, he would be soon, and my body ached to think of what he would do if he found me there. Seconds went by, and I just stood there, letting my eyes adjust and standing these like a shy alter boy who had never helped a priest. As my head turned, I saw that the only light was coming in dimly from the terrace that had been opened, allowing a calm wind to ruffle the curtains that had been pulled back. Something drew me to it, even though I knew I shouldn't leave that spot. I went anyway.

He was there. Looking out over the landscape, the wind pushing the waves on his shoulder back, allowing me to see his face. It didn't change in its serenity as I neared. I saw him and my stomach dropped, while my heart jumped to my throat. The same panic I had felt when I woke up returned. I nearly ran back into the room. Another urge told me to stay there, even if I was in full view of that beast. The wind chilled my bare upper body.

"Either you come me join me on the balcony or I'll come in there for you." Lestat said, not looking away from the view. I physically jumped when I heard him speak. His voice was as calm as the wind, but I didn't let that cover fool me. The threat behind the tone made me follow him out.

My hands rubbed the backs of my arms, not from cold, but from uneasiness. The bottoms of my feet were icy against the stone of the ground. I felt completely open, completely vulnerable. The rising terror only let me come a few feet from him.

He turned and I inwardly flinched. Automatically I put on a brave face, even knowing Lestat could see through it as if it was never there.

"Where is your resolve, my warrior? Where is your strength?" His hand reached me and touched my chest.

I stepped back. "Don't come near me." I commanded, dropping my arms and putting my hands into fists. "You can't do this anymore. "

A flash went through the vampire's eye that disappeared as quickly as it had come. Was it anger? Frustration?

One move had my face in his palm. We were close. "I don't take orders from anyone, dear Justin." He bared his fangs. "You should know it. Does your sweet lover need another lesson for you to understand?"

"Why do you resort to blackmail? Are you not enough of a man to fight face to face?" I glared him down, showing none of the fear I once had. If he wanted to fight, I was more than confidant.

He didn't back down in the least. For once, he shed the theatrical gestures and expressions, leaving only his rising irritation.

Suddenly he broke the stare and walked to a wide chair on the right side of the balcony just a few steps away. As he sat, he kept the vampiric grace that had never left him yet.

"Fine. I don't need it. Allow me to put this into terms you might understand." Without moving a muscle, he used that invisible force to knock me forward into his lap. "Move, and I'll kill you."

My hands had landed on his shoulders and my knees to the outside of his thighs. If I wanted to resist, he was too quick for me to think about it. He bit my nipple, hard, making my whole body tense in pain. I screamed out and had a handful of his jacket in my fingers. Not only did he do that for his own enjoyment, I knew, but also to take from me the ability to fight back. I felt the side of his tongue caress the soft skin, while my chest leaned up and down with shallow, fearful breaths.

He let go of me and I nearly fell on him. With one move, he had me once again at his mercy. The paralytic strength of his attack had left me shaken.

Lestat touched my stomach, where some of the bruises had begun to turn purple. He traced every one of my many wounds that the vampire had left on me. Around my hips, on my sides. Every motion made me whimper, my mind inwardly pleading for him to halt but my mouth not able to do anything but pant and gasp for breath.

"You can't get enough of it." Lestat whispered, grasping the back o my head and bringing it down so I could see his eyes. His breath was against my face. "You get hard before I even do anything. You scream before I touch you." He kissed my neck so many times, each lighting fires of pleasure that I could feel to my fingertips. Against my skin, he asked, "How many times will you come tonight?"

"No…" I breathed. My hands were tangled in his hair. I could feel my whole body shaking with weakness. "I can't take this."

He shoved me off him, the movement so sudden I crashed to the stone of the floor, my back smacking painfully into the unrelenting ground.

Lestat stepped away from the chair and kneeled over me. "That's it, Justin. Fight me. Resist me with all your strength. Let me hear you scream."

Before he could jump on me, I scrambled out from underneath him and ran. Straight into the room is where my feet took me, but if they had led me off the railing of the balcony I really wouldn't have cared. I wanted so much to be away from him that I hardly noticed the pain when I clipped the sliding glass door in fleeing. I went to a corner and collapsed there, covering my head with my hands. It wasn't even a hiding place. Just a sad, unvoiced plea for pity.

His footsteps followed mine only seconds later. They were slow, deliberate, and loud. Each one resonated in my ears making me feel him coming closer even though my eyes were shut tight.

"Come out, Justin." Lestat called from the door. "Face me man to man."

His taunt was clear, and yet, I couldn't find the strength to get up. Instead, I crunched myself further into the corner as if the shadows would somehow protect me. As he neared, I braced myself from the worst, even though I had no idea what he would do next.

Lestat came closer. "There are so many options. Where would you liked to be raped? There's the bed, the floor, your pretty little corner…" His step suddenly dashed forward and I flinched back into my hole. There was a pause and he said finally, "The table. I think you'll like it as much as I will."

He had me before I could even react. One of his hands snatched my wrist and hauled me into the air with such ease that it would have been impossible for a human of his build. I crashed against his chest, my face plunging into his jacket and then his cold, marble skin. Lestat laced his fingers with mine in my right hand and clasped the small of my back with the other. We looked like two lovers in the middle of a waltz, except I had no desire to be there. As I looked up, he laughed, taunting me again with complete dominance. He saw the terror in my eyes. He made sure that it stayed, regardless of what he could make me feel.

The vampire glided us over to the glass coffee table, and I was afraid. But instead of dropping me where he wanted me, we went around it skirting the edges with such skill that even in my dire situation I was impressed we hadn't crashed into anything surrounding us.

We went together into the chair beside the table. I felt as if I'd fall if I trusted his grip, so I hooked my arms around Lestat's neck, hoping he wouldn't take advantage of it. I was a fool. I was a bride in his arms while he buried his face into my neck, inhaling my scent. In a vain attempt to get away from him, I tilted my head up, but it only gave him more of a hold on me.

"Tell me you don't enjoy my company." Lestat dared, licking my neck with the side of his tongue, tasting the sweat that had began to form in a thin layer all over my body. His hands felt the bruised skin of my chest and stomach.

I gritted my teeth to suppress a moan. My body caved into his caresses easily.

"What was that, mon amour?" He tore at the skin of my neck, raking across the flesh, causing blood to flow. I couldn't keep from yelling in agony. "I don't think I heard you. I will not be ignored." He cleaned the area with his mouth.

"B-bastard…" I rasped, unhooking my arms from his neck and stopping his hands from touching me any longer. "You can't do this!"

"Au contraire." His strength pushed through my grip, holding the groin of my jeans in his palm. Such a touch made me arch in pleasure, tilting my head back so he could whisper in my ear, "I can do whatever I want to you; you're _mine_."

Lestat forced two of his fingers into my mouth so I could no longer hold back my passionate cries. If I had the strength, I would bite down on his hand, but I could hardly breathe. The vampire stroked and caressed me, causing a bulge to appear in the fabric. I couldn't see it. My head was so far up I could see behind me, and my eyes were half-closed in exhausted ecstasy. My whole body was shaking from it.

"You're so sensitive." Lestat said. He used his now moist fingers to attack my nipple, pinching and fondling it. "And so loud."

"Stop…" It was such a pitiful protest that I doubt he even heard it. Yet he did.

"Yes, beg." He snatched my hardening length beneath the denim of the jeans. I screamed. "I'll show you why you should fear me."

Suddenly, I was dumped onto the glass of the coffee table with so much force that I thought it would shatter beneath me. In that one moment of reprieve, I managed to roll off the table, finally able to use the martial arts reflexes that had been absent in the past when I had needed them most. It was only a second before he was on top of me. However, just as my resistance had disappeared and reappeared throughout my encounters with Lestat, it came back again when he grabbed my arms.

Yes, I did fear him, and that gave me enough conviction to fight back.

My legs reared up and slammed him in the stomach, shoving him off my form for a split second. I think the only reason it worked was because he hadn't expected me to fight. I didn't know I had either until I had gotten up and ran halfway across the room. I didn't know where I was going. There was nowhere _to_ go. Nowhere to hide.

"Run from me, fight me, hide while you can." His slow deliberate footsteps started toward me like they had only minutes before. I refused to turn to him. I had stopped in the dead center of the room, making his voice echo off the walls at all angles to reach me there. "Your anger is beautiful, your fear feeds me." Lestat's last step stopped right behind me, allowing him to speak in a low, ominous voice. "And your body, your _blood_, will be mine."

* * *

I hope this update pleases! Thanks for reading!


End file.
